Hiring, Recruitment Budgets and Perks Expected to Increase

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Hiring is expected to go up during the next six months, as hiring managers are planning to use different tactics to attract and find skilled candidates to fill up vacant positions. DHI Group, a talent acquisition platform and an online career resource for technology professionals, has released the findings of its semi-annual hiring survey, which reveals that hiring during the next six months, is expected to touch all-time levels.

"The time to fill open positions is at peak levels and the pressure is on for America's employers. Offering competitive pay, excellent benefits and employee perks is essential for any company who wants to attract skilled tech talent," says Michael Durney, president and CEO, DHI Group, Inc.

Currently, the demand for skilled people is high. However, with the unemployment levels being low, employers are competing with each other to attract skilled talent. According to the DHI Group survey, which collected responses of 407 hiring professionals, 65% of the respondents are expecting more hiring. This is a 3% more than June 2016 and 9% more than November 2016.

"The survey last year hit during a tumultuous political season in America and prior to the election of Donald Trump as president. It would seem that whatever concern was paralyzing employers' hiring earlier in the year has since abated," says Durney. "Now, it's a hurry-up-and-wait situation; hiring managers are combating lengthy fill times as professionals ponder choosing the ideal employer. Recruiters are needing to employ creative tactics to attract skilled candidates."

About 46% of the respondents revealed that the time taken to fill vacant positions has increased Year over Year. In April 2017, the "DHI-DFH Measure of National Vacancy Duration" revealed that the average time to fill an average job in the US was 30.5 days, compared to 29.5 days in April 2016. While 47% attributed the increasing time to their inability in finding the right candidates, 28% attributed it to them become more discernable as they were willing to wait to find the right candidate.

As a result, 35% of the respondents anticipate that the recruiting budget will be more substantial this year, compared to the previous year. Though 55% of the hiring professionals expect paying out higher salaries, the DHI Group says that this has fallen by 3 percentage points compared to its previous semi-annual surveys which were held in June 2016 and November 2016.

Recruiting strategies are expected to play a major role in attracting talent. While 53% of the respondents said that they were willing to pay for relocation (compared to 50% in November 2016) , 45% were offering perks like free snacks, lunch, gym memberships apart from unlimited vacations (compared to 44% in November 2016).

Another major trend revealed by the survey was to source and build a bench of talent, with 75% of the respondents revealing that building a bench for talent had become more important, compared to the previous year. Given the scarcity of locally available skilled personnel, while 51% of the hiring professionals were planning to broaden their search, 26% (down from 32% in November 2016) were willing to wait for the perfect match.

"In order for companies to get ahead, recruitment has to be regarded as a continual process and they need to have an ongoing conversation with prospects. Recruiters today know the best way to be efficient is by understanding the talent they want to attract and creating highly targeted messaging, like through Lengo, to promote the employer brand," explains Durney. "Employers who do this will build value in their brand and assemble a solid pipeline of star talent."